Barnstable taxpayers may get to take smaller bites to swallow their annual property tax bills as a recommendation to move to quarterly tax billing will be presented to the town council early next year.

Town finance director Mark Milne said that the concept was recommended in both of the recent assessing audits commissioned by the town.

For the town, there are cash flow advantages. Milne said that under the twice-annual collections, the town's cupboards are close to bare by the time each billing cycle arrives. The town hasn't run out of cash and had to borrow in anticipation of collections since 1998 when completion of the tri-annual assessments were months late, but Milne said things get tight. In addition to evening out the cash flow, Milne said that the town would be able to realize more in investment income because funds could be held longer. "Money would be coming into the coffers at a more rapid pace," Milne said. For taxpayers, it would mean smaller, more frequent increments.

The requirements of state law also make a quarterly billing cycle more consumer-friendly. For example, under the present twice-annual billing cycle, the town must assess interest on late payments from the date of issuance. For quarterly billing, interest on late payments accrues from the due date. So, instead of interest paid on 31 days for a payment a day late, it would be a single day. On top of that, the amount upon which late charges would accrue would be smaller. Milne said that the presentation to the council will include pros and cons of moving to such a system. Among the cons are the additional costs associated with the program for additional printing and processing. "We will have twice as many bills," Milne said. He said that projections on the additional investment income should cover, if not exceed, the additional costs.

"We will be able to generate enough investment income so not to require additional tax support," Milne said.

Milne expect a proposal to be ready for town council review some time in the new year, with an expectation, if approved, of being implemented for the 2006 tax year, which begins July 1, 2005.

That becomes important for the tax classification debate. The annual vote of the council under the twice-annual billing comes in the August-to-September time frame. The non-binding referendum seeking voter guidance on whether they'd like to see a split tax rate will come in November. Under a quarterly billing, the council's classification vote would not have to be made until late November or into December, providing additional weight to what voters have to say in November.

How It Would Work

If approved by the town council, quarterly tax billing would begin in July, when the first two bills would be mailed out on July 1. the first bill would be due Aug. 1 and the second Nov. 1. These initial bills would be estimated bills, with the final two bills, due Feb. 1 and May 1, adjusted to reflect any differences in actual tax assessments.